Disasters can be defined as some dangerous situation or event that can
happen unexpectedly anywhere at anytime. The word disaster originated
from the French word 'desastre', which is a combination of words ‘des’
(bad) and ‘aster’ (star) and therefore disaster indicates
bad star. Disasters that cause serious threat to normal life, property,
environment as well as the process of development may be rapid or slow
and can be classified as natural disaster, man-made disaster and hybrid
disaster. Natural disasters are those which result from natural forces
like earthquakes, floods, tsunami, cyclones, volcanic eruption etc. Man-made
disasters like blast, terrible accidents, gas calamity, etc are caused
from human beings interaction with artificial environment. Hybrid disasters
(eg. epidemics) are those disasters that result from a compound of both
natural or man made disaster. The increasing population, deforestation,
industrial growth etc can be sighted as the reasons for both natural and
human made disasters. The Bhopal gas tragedy in India and September 11
attacks on USA can be considered as two major man made disasters.
Disaster management also called as Emergency Management is all about
dealing with all kinds of disasters. Its major objective is to reduce
the shocking effects of a disaster on the affected community and to help
them return to normal life within a short period. Disaster management
is a multi disciplinary area covering a wide range of issues like monitoring,
evaluation, search and rescue, relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation
operations. This highly responsible profession includes the plans and
actions before, during and after the disasters. It is a combination of
mechanisms such as timely warning, alerts, fast response and efficient
coordination. Even though we cannot stop or avoid natural disasters, it
is possible to resist aftermath calamities of such disasters.
Disaster management is the method of controlling a disaster by using
skillful ways. Its techniques or methods are based on the economic status
of a country and hence it varies from country to country. Disasters are
managed better and quicker by the developed countries than the developing
countries. Developing countries are reporting high number of deaths related
to disaster, and India has second place in it due to its geographical
position, climate and geological setting. The course is beneficial
for social workers.
In India, the state and central government take responsibilities of
disaster management and the government has included disaster management
as a program to study. Many institutes offer courses in Disaster management
that would help one to get into the field of emergency supervision. Many
government and non-government organizations need emergency management
professionals to work for the betterment of society. It is a fairly paid
industry and in spite of all the risk, disaster management is one of the
careers that give mental satisfaction to those who wants to serve the
society.
